


All These Memories

by ClockworkDinosaur (orphan_account)



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Gen, Photographic Memories, Sibling Bonding, sad but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 13:56:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6959623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ClockworkDinosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Spine thinks he recognizes someone in the audience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All These Memories

**Author's Note:**

> I've heard rumors that Photographic Memories is going to be on Quintessential so I decided to dig this older fic up.  
> (By "heard rumors" I mean it's all but officially confirmed but yknow. I can't wait until that track list is revealed!)  
> This is a pretty old fic, one of the first ones I've written I believe, and I'm just now posting it on ao3. I did edit it a bit to fix some grammar mistakes and make things flow better.

“Why-why-why do ya stretch before a show anyways?” Rabbit asked, as she sat cross-legged on the floor and watched The Spine raise his arms and arch his back.

“Because… because I  _can_ , Rabbit, jeez,” he mumbled. “Let me do my thing. Why do you eat ice cream?” he shot back, twisting his torso.

“Fair enough,” she replied, then stood and copied her brother’s stretching motions.

“This was nice… But kinda use-use-useless,” she said after a few minutes.

“I feel better,” The Spine replied as he put on his black fedora and adjusted his vest.

“Wh-wh-whatever, nerd.”

“Hey, show’s on in half an hour!” Hatchworth said as he stepped into the prep room.

“Hatchy, I’m af-fraid to tell you that Spine is a nerd,” Rabbit said dramatically as she made sure her hair was perfect.

“Oh, I am well aware.”

* * *

“…The one, the only, Rabbit the Robot!” Steve Negrete announced as the jaunty opening to  _“I’ll Rust With You”_ started, with Hatchworth and The Spine on their guitars.

She turned around with a flare of red skirts, grabbed the vintage microphone with vigor and began singing, swaying her hips and grinning as the words fell from her lips. It was one of her favorites to preform, with the old-fashioned microphone in her hands and the crowd screaming for her.

The Spine was having just as much fun as his sister, his fingers flying over the strings as he tapped his foot to the fast beat.

“We love you!” someone in the crowd screamed, and he looked up from the instrument with a grin.

He stopped cold when his glowing green eyes met a pair of brown ones for a moment. He felt his core buzz for a moment in confusion and longing. The girl’s eyes passed over him, but not before he almost muttered the name of a girl long gone.

He missed a few notes, causing Rabbit to give him a sideways glance as as she sang, worry and annoyance both equally apparent on her face. without meeting her gaze, he looked down at his guitar, and didn’t look at anyone for the rest of the show.

* * *

“What happened up there during _I'll Rust With You_?” Hatchworth asked The Spine after the show as the three robots packed the instruments away in their van. “Missing one or two notes is one thing, but you were out of it for a good four seconds,” the mustached robot said as he lifted the amps and slid them into the van. Rabbit closed the doors with a slam and stared at The Spine.

“Yeah, you looked… odd for a few sec-sec-seconds, I was worried you were gonna glitch out or something,” she said with concern as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Thought I saw someone I knew in the crowd. A girl,” he replied shortly as he made his way around the van and into the driver’s seat.

Rabbit said nothing, only giving him an understanding look as she slipped into the passenger’s seat. Hatchworth, confused, climbed into the back and watched The Spine with worry.

The car ride home was silent.

* * *

The Spine sat at his desk in his room, scribbling lyrics into a notebook, when he heard a tapping at his doorway. Sighing a puff of steam and closing his notebook, he turned and muttered for whoever it was to enter. Hatchworth slowly stepped inside and waved.

“Hatchy, it’s three in the morning. You need to rest,” The Spine said kindly.

“So do you, but you’re upset so you won’t,” Hatchworth replied matter-of-factly as he entered his brother’s room and sat on the floor. “You know… You’ve never told me about the girl,” he said carefully, looking up at his brother.

The Spine smiled sadly. He hesitated before he spoke, the words clearly not comeing easily. “She was beautiful. Intelligent. Graceful. Vaguely terrifying when she wanted to be,” he sighed. “And she died many years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

The Spine only nodded, then looked at his hands. “It’s just… strange to know that I’m still here, exactly as I was then, and she’s gone. She died, and I never will. As much as I want to be human, I’m not. I'll never die. I'm just stuck here missing her and I always will be.” He snorted and shook his head. “I should be over her by now, huh?”

Hatchworth shook his head. “No, and maybe you’ll never really be over her, love is a strong thing and hard to forget, especially for a robot with a photographic memory.”

The Spine looked at Hatchworth for a moment. “Photographic memories, huh… I… I’m going to be writing for a while Hatchy. You’re free to sit in here if you want, but it’s going to be boring.” He turned around and opened up his notebook again, humming as he wrote in his looping script.

“I’ll stay, maybe go into sleep mode for a bit though,” he replied as he laid on the floor. The Spine only nodded, scribbling furiously.

* * *

The next morning, Rabbit barged into The Spine’s room, intending to jump on him to wake him up, to see both of her brothers both powered down; Hatchworth on the floor, and The Spine at his desk, pencil still in-hand. She quietly made her way over to The Spine and noticed the papers underneath his head. She bit her lip after a quick scan of the lyrics and quietly exited the room.

 


End file.
